Breakfast at Dyan's Country Kitchen - Updated

Dyan's pioneer breakfast features chicken-fried steak with country gravy, three eggs any way, home fries, and a bagel for $6.99.

John Linn

I've been on the lookout lately for good breakfast places for an upcoming column, but for some reason I had forgotten about Dyan's Country Kitchen, a diner-style breakfast spot in northern Coral Springs. Now the place is firmly locked in my memory as a great neighborhood joint to nab the most important meal of the day. I went there this weekend with my fiance and wanted to order something light. But I couldn't resist "the pioneer," a plate that included chicken-fried steak and three eggs for just $6.99.

Update: Dyan's will be open for dinner starting in December.

I'm usually wary of ordering chicken-fried steak from any place that doesn't specialize in it -- I've had too many poorly fried frozen cube steaks doing that. Dyan's version may not have been freshly battered or pan-fried -- it arrived in under 5 minutes, too quick for that treatment -- but it was excellent. Crisp, golden brown crust housed a piece of cube steak so tender you could cut it with a fork. The cream gravy on top was loaded with sausage, too. I broke open the over-easy eggs that came with it and dunked bits of steak and crunchy home fries in the mixture. The plate even came with a decent bagel; a little doughy but fresh and nicely toasted.

Dyan's has all the hallmarks of a great breakfast spot. Service is lightning quick: coffee is continually refilled, food appears minutes after ordering, and the check is dropped before you have to ask for it. The L-shaped room is packed from opening through to closing at 2 p.m., and you can choose to sit at a booth, at the counter top, or one of the communal tables in the center. The menu is huge, too, with a multitude of egg specials, pancakes, waffles, omelets, bailys, knishes, nova and lox platters, bagels, sandwiches, salads, and even steaks. The most expensive thing is $10.

I couldn't finish my whole pioneer platter, but I did put a hurting on it. Next time I may go with something lighter, like a salmon platter with tomato and cucumber. But a loaded Denver omelet or New York strip with eggs sounds good too.